Sulu may have only been the helmsman on "Star Trek," but George Takei, the actor who played him, has been captain of his own life.

Like any good story, his is told in four acts: childhood in an internment camp during World War II, working as a fledgling actor during the golden age of television, being part of the "Star Trek" phenomenon and having a fruitful life after the show.

That last chapter includes Takei's appearance Friday through Sunday at the Milwaukee Symphony Pops' "Sci-Fi Spectacular" concert in Uihlein Hall at the Marcus Center for the Performing Arts. Visit mso.org or call (414) 291-7605 for ticket information.

In a phone interview, Takei said he will narrate speeches from sci-fi films and will, of course, "talk a little bit" about "Star Trek" while guest conductor Jack Everly conducts music from the show and such films as "Star Wars," "The Day the Earth Stood Still" and "2001: A Space Odyssey."

Takei, 75, has been doing concert narrations for about a decade. His performances draw "dedicated sci-fi fans dressed as storm troopers, Klingons and Starfleet officers, as well as people who love the music" of "Star Wars" composer John Williams; Alexander Courage, who composed the soaring "Star Trek" theme; and Bernard Herrmann's eerie "The Day the Earth Stood Still" score. During the latter, Takei recites the farewell warning speech by the space traveler Klaatu, played in the 1951 movie by Michael Rennie.

Takei said that, while actors believe that "it's our performance that moves people," the music in film and TV shows "plays an integral and organic part in the dramatic situation." Although he has heard the "Star Trek" theme played countless times, he associates it with a 1976 performance by the Air Force band at the inauguration of the space shuttle Enterprise, named after the ship in the show.

Today, Takei films a Nickelodeon series called "Supah Ninjas" on the Paramount lot, "a stone's throw from the old 'Star Trek' soundstage. I pass it daily," he said.

But "Star Trek" just scratches the surface of a life filled with milestones.

Takei's father was in real estate, and he followed in his footsteps studying architecture and urban planning at the University of California, Berkeley. His parents were politically active. As a youth, Takei campaigned for Adlai Stevenson, and the family held fundraisers for Tom Bradley's mayoral campaign. After Takei lost a race for L.A. City Council in 1972, Bradley appointed him to the Southern California Rapid Transit District board.

During that period, Takei even filmed a corny public service announcement - dressed as Sulu - for the Milwaukee County Transit System. He has visited Milwaukee before - his brother and sister-in-law met in Milwaukee while students at Marquette University, and his "favorite nephew" Scott Takei was born here, he said.

His activism on behalf of Japanese-Americans on internment issues - he was appointed to the Japan-United States Friendship Commission by President Bill Clinton - was born of his family's experiences in internment camps during World War II. Takei's family of five spent the first few months of internment living in a stable at the Santa Anita racetrack - "a degrading, humiliating experience," Takei remembered - before being moved across the country to Arkansas.

"I remember being in school and saying the Pledge of Allegiance and seeing the barbed-wire fence and guard tower outside the window," he said.

Later, as an "idealistic teenager," he challenged his parents' generation for not resisting the policy, and his father taught him that "democracy is as great as people can be, but as fallible as people are. That's why we have to stay engaged."

Takei recently testified before the Los Angeles Board of Supervisors before it voted to rescind its 1942 resolution of support for the internment.

His early film and TV roles were "limited by the fact that I'm Asian, but I was lucky in so many ways." Takei was a theater student at UCLA when he received his first credited film role, in the 1960 movie "Ice Palace" beside Robert Ryan and Richard Burton, and he appeared on "Playhouse 90"; a "Twilight Zone" episode with Neville Brand; and an episode of "Chrysler Theater" with a young William Shatner.

In his "Star Trek" audition, instead of talking about his background or training, Takei and the show's creator, Gene Roddenberry, "chatted about current events and books we'd read."

And when Roddenberry described the show, Takei said, "I knew this would be a breakthrough role for me."

Takei, who was closeted during the show and came out as gay in 2005, said he "quietly" asked Roddenberry about tackling discrimination against gays on the show but was told that "the issue was too risky" because "our ratings were very low."

Takei said that after the show was canceled, he found it "difficult to get cast in Hollywood."

But "rather than staying here and moaning about it," he found an abundance of stage, film and TV roles abroad. One producer told him "the only Japanese name recognizable in other markets was mine."

Being "associated with a show that is so popular and long-lasting was a double-edged sword," he said. "But I chose to emphasize the positive side of it."